


Anniversary

by pickleplum



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Double Dating, F/M, Fluff, M/M, a tiny dose of sad feels crept in, so did a shovel talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-06
Updated: 2013-12-06
Packaged: 2018-01-03 20:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1072845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickleplum/pseuds/pickleplum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasha and Aleksis Kaidanovsky celebrate their latest victory with a double date in Hong Kong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

> Texts in italics indicate words spoken in Russian (and Jaeger names).

_“Doctor Gottlieb! It is lovely to see you again.”_ The Russian pilots are notorious for their lack of finesse, but are surprisingly gentle in their embraces of the mathematician. _”It has been much too long,"_ Sasha says warmly.

 _”Nearly four years, Lieutenants,”_ Hermann answers, his Russian flavored with a slight German accent. _"Vladivostok has treated you well. What brings you to Hong Kong?"_

_"Kaiju, of course. We were summoned to help Crimson and Striker in Ho Chi Minh City this morning. Now we must wait for repairs to Cherno before returning."_

Newt steps up and clears his throat loudly. Hermann sighs and makes a small gesture of introduction toward him. _”You may remember Doctor Newton Geiszler. He was a member of the Academy class after ours.”_

“I heard my name in there! What are you saying about me?” Newt shrills.

 _”Ah, yes. Now I remember. The noisy little one. He advised our engineers on a more effective fuel mixture for Cherno’s incinerator turbines.”_ Sasha studies Newt with a doubtful expression. _“Does he still talk of nothing but kaiju?”_

 _”His conversational repertoire has expanded slightly over the years, but I do not recommend allowing him an opportunity to wax poetic,”_ Hermann answers with a sad shake of his head.

_”He has no Russian? Perhaps if we avoid English he will be quiet.”_

Newt immediately crushes that hope. “You know how rude this is, right?” he asks.

 _”I fear not. We must make the best of it.”_ “Newton, this is Sasha and Aleksis Kaidanovsky, pilots of _Cherno Alpha._ We were at the Academy together.” Aleksis’ greeting hug nearly smothers the diminutive scientist and Sasha’s causes several vertebrae in his back to pop.

“You hung out with pilots? Really?” he says to Hermann with evident surprise. “All I got out of the Academy was a case of frostbite. And Tendo. Not that Tendo’s a disappointment or anything, but he’s not a pilot. He never gets to see kaiju up close, which is….”

Sasha interrupts the ramble before Newt can reach full steam. “The Doctor helped program _Cherno_ to work with us. We spent much time together. All Mark I pilots love him.” 

Hermann blushes. “You exaggerate, Lieutenant.”

“Never!” Sasha laughs, a startlingly musical sound. ”Aleksis and I are in need of vodka to celebrate our latest victory. Perhaps you know of a place?”

”I do,” Hermann answers, obviously relieved by the change of subject. “There is a tea room in the city with a wonderful selection.”

”You and your companion seem to be dressed for a night out. Perhaps we should combine our parties?”

“The more the merrier,” Newt chirps.

The crowds on the street part in front of the pilots while the scientists stroll in their wake. 

Nestled in a side street in the city’s small Russian neighborhood, the restaurant is dimly lit and smells strongly of tea and black bread. The small tables are crowded with guests and heaped with mountains of food. The quartet is quickly ushered to a back room out of deference to the Kaidanovskys’ fame in the community. Soon their table is layered with borscht, piroshki, blinchiki, pelmeni, podzharka, stuffed cabbage, sausages, braised lamb, and vodka, of course.

To Newt’s amazement, Hermann’s drinking keeps pace with Sasha’s. Aleksis, though, is another story. Newt stops trying to keep track after the third bottle is opened. Counting was getting difficult anyway, thanks to his own consumption.

Conversation flows surprisingly easy, thanks in part to the way that Aleksis clearing his throat seems to immediately silence Newt and Hermann’s occasional bickering. They talk of books they’ve been reading, places they’d visited, mutual friends to whom they’d recently spoken, and little things happening in their lives. By the time the guriev blini arrives, however, the discussion has slowly come around to friends and comrades lost during the war, most recently the Becket brothers--one to discharge, the other to death. Talk grinds to a grim halt.

“It is well to mourn our dead, but we are also here for a victory,” Aleksis declares, lifting the party’s eyes from the tablecloth. “To our latest success!” 

“What are you two celebrating?” asks Sasha after their shots are finished.

“Our first anniversary!” Newt chimes, lacing his fingers with Hermann’s.

“Anniversary? Wonderful! _This is why you look so happy,”_ Sasha proclaims, addressing Hermann. _”You have chosen a cute one, Doctor.”_ She gives Newt a long, appraising look. _”A little small, perhaps, but cute. He is satisfying?”_ she asks with a raised eyebrow.

Hermann turns crimson to the tips of his ears. _”Ah. Yes. Quite,”_ he stammers earning a befuddled look from Newt. Hermann squeezes his hand reassuringly. “Later, Newton,” he says. Sasha’s throaty laugh and Aleksis’ raised eyebrow only serve to confuse Newt even more.

“A final toast. To friendship, love, and victory!” Four glasses are raised, drained, and returned to the table empty.

The couples amble back, each arm in arm, Sasha and Aleksis steady, Newt and Hermann leaning on each other a bit more than usual. The pilots escort the scientists back to their quarters.

“Stay, Newton. We will talk,” Sasha orders in a tone that brooks no disagreement. Newt looks desperately at Hermann, who merely shrugs and continues through the door of their quarters. “You take care of the Doctor for us while we are away,” she continues. “He is very special.”

“I know,” Newt murmurs as he studies the scuffed toes of his boots.

Aleksis rests an enormous hand on Newt’s shoulder. “You are a better guardian than you think. Our Doctor chose well for himself.”

“Remember: He is our friend. If we learn you have hurt him, we will find you and we will have more words. Unhappy words, yes?” Sasha studies her fingernails with an air of distracted menace. “You understand?

“Ye-yeah. Of course, ma’am. Sir. Ma’am.”

She hugs him, kisses both cheeks, and pats his shoulder before moving off. Aleksis pauses and fishes in an inside pocket of his jacket. “Your hand,” he rumbles at Newt who holds out a shaking hand. The big man presses a small object into his palm.

Newt uncurls his fingers to reveal a silver ring with a large skull as the central device. “A little symbol of strength for you. Makes you look tougher.” Aleksis smiles. “Now you each have something from us.”

 _”That’s_ where his coat came from.”

“Anchorage is cold,” Aleksis shrugs, a motion that on him has all the grace of an avalanche. “Take care, be brave, keep fighting, Doctor.”

He leaves Newt standing outside the door watching his retreating back and twisting the new ring around his pinky.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [the prompt:](http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/1613.html?thread=2845517#t2845517)  
> “newt/hermann, sasha/aleksis, double date. Anything cute with these two couples hanging out together.”
> 
> The prompt provided me the perfect opportunity to create a backstory for something I noticed one day trawling Tumblr: The similarity of one of the Kaidanovskys’ rings to Newt’s infamous one. Check it out:
> 
> [Sasha’s ring finger](http://chernoalphapilot.tumblr.com/post/61730239312/queen-sasha-heather-doerksen-dont-let-the-smile)  
> [Newt’s pinky](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1WsDTUHCA4IMzdWZHk1eE94bFU/edit?usp=sharing) (sorry for the crap quality)
> 
> I can’t find the image anymore, but Aleksis sports a similar or identical band to Sasha’s.
> 
> Menu based on that at [Russian Tea Time](http://russianteatime.com), what is probably my favorite restaurant in the Chicago Loop and maybe all of Chicagoland ([Izakaya Sankyu](http://www.yelp.com/biz/izakaya-sankyu-japanese-restaurant-mount-prospect-2) in Mount Prospect was impressive enough on the first visit to maybe give it a run for its money despite being in a totally different price and ambiance bracket.)
> 
> Music to set the mood: [Garmarna, _Vittrad_ , Track 10, “Inte sörja vi”](http://youtu.be/wXBak17oFkQ) (Yeah, the band is Swedish, not Russian, but it just fit my mood)


End file.
